Wednesday, April 13, 2011

RIM’s Mike Lazaridis walks out of BBC interview

The publicity campaign for the long-awaited launch of the PlayBook from Research In Motion Ltd. ran into trouble today after the BBC news service posted a video clip of its co-CEO Mike Lazaridis (pictured) abruptly terminating an interview when asked about potential security issues in India and the Middle East. The 1-minute, 29-second clip shows Mr. Lazaridis bristling when the BBC’s technology reporter, Rory Cellan-Jones, asks if RIM has “sorted out” complaints from some government officials in India and the Middle East that the company’s widely admired network security is blocking police attempts to monitor communications. “That’s just not fair,” Mr. Lazaridis, an engineer and RIM founder, says in response to the question. “First of all we have no security problem ... We’ve just been singled out here because we are so successful around the world. It’s an iconic product.” When Mr. Cellan-Jones pressed again for a response, Mr. Lazaridis said: “It’s over, the interview. You can’t use that, it’s not fair, it's national security. Turn that off." Click on the title to watch the clip.

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